Bead expander for mounting and inflating tubeless tires

ABSTRACT

A device for mounting and inflating a tubeless tire on an automotive wheel rim. An inflatable annular member of tubular cross section is placed between the flanged rim of the wheel and the sidewall of the tire to establish a sealed air chamber after the annular member has been inflated. Upon initial inflating of the tire, the annular member rolls off from between the rim and the sidewall.

United States Patent Kaminskas [451 Mar. 28, 1972 [54] READ EXPANDER FORMOUNTING 3,552,469 1/1971 Corless ..1s7/1.1

AND INFLATING TUBELESS TIRES Prima Examiner-Granville Y. Custer, Jr.

[72] Inventor: Anthony F. Kaminskas, Lyndhurst, Ohio g;, E Sachs [73]Assignee: Clevite Corporation 57 A [22] Filed: Jan. 23, 1970 1 BSTRACT Adevice for mounting and inflating a tubeless tire on an au- [21] Appl.No.. 5,298 tomotive wheel rim. An inflatable annular member'of tubularcross section is placed between the flanged rim of the wheel [52] U.S.Cl. ..157/1.1 and the sidewall of the tire to establish a sealed airchamber [51] lnt.Cl. after the annular member has been inflated. Uponinitial in- [58] Field of Search l57/1.l flating of the tire, theannular member rolls off from between the rim and the sidewall. [56]References Cited 3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures UNlTED STATES PATENTS2,874,759 2/1959 g i n ,,..1s7/1.1

BEA!) EXPANDER lFOlR MOUNTING AND INFLATING TUBELESS TIRES The presentinvention relates generally to an automotive tire installation deviceand, more particularly, to an improvement for mounting and inflating atubeless tire on a wheel rim.

The present application is related to U.S. application, Ser. No. 5208,concurrently filed herewith, which constitutes an improvement of mypresent invention when the invention is to be employed in connectionwith inflating certain tires.

In the prior art, numerous devices have been known for aiding in theinstallation of tires on wheel rims. Such assistance is necessary as thesidewalls of the tire are usually collapsed and a seal cannot be readilyestablished between the rim flange and the tire bead seat to permit airpressure to inflate the tire. In the past, an inflating device hasalready been successfully utilized. This device is secured on thecircumference of the tire tread, usually proximate to the centerthereof. The device comprises a tube which is inflated to constrict andreduce the diameter of the tire tread portion to cause a lateralmovement of the sidewalls for pressing the tire bead tightly against theflanged portion of the rim. It has been found that these and similardevices cannot be readily utilized for mounting radial ply and beltedtubeless tires. Numerous attempts have been made to overcome thisdifficulty and most of these attempts have failed for either economicalor operational reasons.

In many of such new designs, rigid (metal) sleeves of a tubular natureare utilized. One end of the sleeve is placed tightly around the rim,while the other end extends axially outward. The rim engaging end bearsagainst the sidewall of the tire in order to create a sealed areabetween the rim diameter and the sidewall. Such devices have exhibited,as already noted above, many shortcomings, for instance, in that theyare unable to readily establish a seal-tight chamber and, when handledrather roughly by the installer, can be injurious to the latter.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to provide animproved tire mounting and inflating device which obviates thedisadvantages of the prior art and which provides an economical meansfor installing a radial ply tubeless tire in a safe and efficientmanner.

The present invention is derived from and is based upon the basic ideaof utilizing an annular elastomeric member and interposing such memberbetween the rim of the automotive wheel and the sidewall of the tire toestablish a sealed air chamber therebetween. This approach obviates theneed for various accessories and aids as commonly used in the prior artfor holding down and keeping in place the bead expander. The beadexpander will automatically release itself from its operating positionalthough at times it will be desirable or necessary to lubricate theannular member to facilitate such release.

One aspect of the present invention resides in the provision of a devicefor mounting and inflating a tubeless tire on a tire wheel rim in whichthe wheel rim is provided with a continuous flange at its axialperiphery. The bead expander comprises an annular member of elastomericmaterial for placement between the rim and the sidewall of the tire withthe member being effective to establish in situ a sealed air chamberbetween the rim and the sidewall in response to initial inflating of thetire. The annular member has an inner diameter approximating the outsidediameter of the flange portion of the rim. Further, the annular memberis essentially tubular in crosssection.

For a better understanding of the present invention, together with otherand further objects thereof, reference is had to the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and itsscope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a conventional uninflated tubeless tiremounted and supported on a rim; and

FIGS. 2 to 5 are fragmentary views in section, similar to the view shownin FIG. 1, showing the present invention in various stages of assistingthe mounting and inflating of the tire.

Referring now to the drawing, there is shown in FIG. 1 a typicaltubeless tire 10 mounted on a drop center wheel rim 12. The tirecomprises a circumferentially arranged tread 14 with adjacent sidewallsI6, 18 having at their outer ends a tire head portion 20. The wheel rim12 is also of conventional configuration and includes a drop center wellportion 22 and complementary tire bead portions 24 and acircumferentially continuous flange 26 at each axial end of the flange.

The tire 10 is mounted upon the wheel rim 12 in the conventional manneruntil the same is positioned with both sidewalls 16, 18 proximate to thedrop center well portion 22 substantially as shown in FIG. 1. This isnormally accomplished with the assistance of a hand tool, such as a bar,or the like.

In accordance with the present invention an annular member 28 ofelastomeric material is placed between a sidewall, e.g., 16 or 18 andthe flanged portion 26 of the wheel rim 12. The annular member 28 is ofring-like configuration and has an inner diameter substantiallyapproximating the outside diameter of the rim flange 26. The annularmember, or bead expander 28, is formed as a hollow tube provided with anair inflating valve 40.

In order to facilitate the proper seating of the annular member 28 thesame is initially placed between the rim and the sidewall, which definea gap, in deflated condition and thereafter inflated so that the beadexpander 28 will assume a position substantially as shown in FIG. 2 withthe contacting surfaces of the annular member 28 being within the gap.This position is effective to establish a sealed air chamber between therim l2 and the sidewall 16 of the tire. The tire is then inflated in theconventional manner causing the annular member 28 to roll on its rollingsurface 34 while maintaining sealing contact between the rim 12 and theflange 26 whereby air is prevented from escaping the now sealed chamber36. The sealed chamber 36 is established and maintained due to thepressure exerted upon the rolling contact surface 34 by the expandingsidewall 16.

In order to facilitate the rolling effect of the annular member, theannular member is coated with a lubricant in those areas which aredesignated herein by reference numeral 34, see FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 illustrates that despite the fluid intercourse between thechambers 36 and 38, the tire sidewalls expand due to increased intemalpressure whereby the rolling effect upon the annular member 28 isincreased causing the annular member to roll off the sidewall 16 andthereby being released from the holding engagement with flange 26. Atthis point, the tire bead portion 20 comes to rest against the rim bead,see 24, and abuts the flange 26 of the rim l2 effecting a completeseating of the tire.

FIG. 5 shows the position of the tire beads 20 and that of the annularmember 28 after inflating has been completed.

At times it will be necessary to manually hold the tubular, annularmember 28 in place against the tire pressure to maintain the properseating relationship and to prevent premature rolling off as describedabove. This problem does not occur with respect to all tires. However, Ihave discovered, together with a co-inventor, a means for preventingsuch premature roll-off. That invention is described in the above notedconcurrently filed patent application.

In accordance with my above described invention, it is not necessarythat the tubular annular member 28 be provided with an inflating valve40. A permanently pressurized tube may be used in lieu of an inflatabletubular member 28.

While there have been described what are at present considered to be thepreferred embodiments of this invention, it will be obvious to thoseskilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be madetherein without departing from the invention, and it is aimed,therefore, in the appended claims to cover all such changes andmodifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Device for mounting and inflating a tubeless tire on a tire wheelrim, in which the rim is provided with a continuous flange at its axialends, comprising:

a substantially air impervious annular member of elastomeric materialfor rollable interposition between the rim and the sidewall of the tirewith the contacting surfaces of said annular member being within the gapestablished by the wheel rim and said sidewall, said annular memberbeing effective to establish a sealed air chamber between the rim andthe sidewall in response to initial inflating of the tire, said annularmember having an inner diameter substantially approximating the outsidediameter of the

1. Device for mounting and inflating a tubeless tire on a tire wheelrim, in which the rim is provided with a continuous flange at its axialends, comprising: a substantially air impervious annular member ofelastomeric material for rollable interposition between the rim and thesidewall of the tire with the contacting surfaces of said annular memberbeing within the gap established by the wheel rim and said sidewall,said annular member being effective to establish a sealed air chamberbetween the rim and the sidewall in response to initial inflating of thetire, said annular member having an inner diameter substantiallyapproximating the outside diameter of the flanges portion of the rim anda substantially uniform, circular cross section; and whereby uponfurther inflating of the tire the annular member is effective to rolloff from and between the rim and the sidewall.
 2. A device according toclaim 1, when said member of circular cross-section is hollow.
 3. Adevice according to claim 2, and pneumatic valve means on said annularmember for inflating and deflating the latter.